Israel’s Securities Regulator Upgrades Cybersecurity with Blockchain

The Israel Securities Authority (ISA) has quietly integrated blockchain technology within its internal systems to securely deliver messages and information to regulated entities under its purview.

The ISA, Israel’s national securities regulator, is carrying out the implementation after already embedding a platform dubbed “Yael”, used by the government agency to communicate and relay information to supervised institutions, The Times of Israel reported.

The blockchain pivot will add another layer to ensure the credibility of data relayed to supervised entities, the ISA explained. The blockchain will notably verify the authenticity of origin messages, negate tampering by preventing them from being edited or deleted altogether, the regulator added. Furthermore, regulated institutions will no longer be able to plead ignorance that a message wasn’t received after its transmission from the ISA.

The blockchain platform reportedly took three months to be developed by Israel-based IT giant Taldor, a publicly-listed company.

“Implementing blockchain technology in the ISA’s information systems makes it one of the global leading authorities in securing the information provided to the public and its credibility, and one of the leaders in Israel’s public sector.”

Beyond shoring up its security framework for messaging, the ISA is also looking to implement the decentralized technology in an online voting system that enables shareholders of listed companies on the exchange to vote online, without needing to actually be present in shareholder meetings.

In another application, the ISA also revealed its intention to integrate blockchain technology to its Magna platform, which records all reports submitted by institutions under the ISA’s supervision.

Decentralized e-voting, in particular, has already been tested and put to use in other markets and industries. In early 2016, Estonia’s e-residency platform launched a blockchain e-voting service for shareholders to vote for companies listed on the Estonian Stock Exchange operated by Nasdaq.